God, philosophy, universities God, philosophy, universities A Selective History of the Catholic Philosophical Tradition Alasdair MacIntyre A Sheed & Ward Book ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham (cid:129) Boulder (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK A Sheed & Ward Book ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowmanlittlefield.com Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom Copyright © 2009 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: MacIntyre, Alasdair C. God, philosophy, universities: a selective history of the Catholic philosophical tradition / Alasdair MacIntyre. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7425-4429-1 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7425-6549-4 (electronic) 1. Catholic Church and philosophy—History. 2. Philosophy—Study and teaching— History. 3. Universities and colleges—Curricula—History. 4. Catholic universities and colleges—Curricula—History. I. Title. BX1795.P47M325 2009 190—dc22 2008048468 Printed in the United States of America (cid:2) ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. (cid:2) Contents Introduction 1 God, Philosophy, Universities Chapter 1 God 5 Chapter 2 Philosophy 9 Chapter 3 God and philosophy 13 Chapter 4 God, philosophy, universities 15 Prologues to the Catholic Philosophical Tradition Chapter 5 Augustine 21 Chapter 6 Boethius, the Pseudo-Dionysius, and Anselm 33 Chapter 7 The Islamic and Jewish Prologue to Catholic Philosophy 43 Chapter 8 The Genesis of the Catholic Philosophical Tradition 61 Aquinas and After Chapter 9 Aquinas: Philosophy and Our Knowledge of God 73 Chapter 10 Aquinas: Philosophy and the Life of Practice 87 v vi (cid:2) Contents Chapter 11 Aquinas: God, philosophy, universities 93 Chapter 12 After Aquinas: Scotus and Ockham 97 The Threshold of Modern Philosophy Chapter 13 From Scholasticism to Skepticism 105 Chapter 14 Descartes, Pascal, and Arnauld 113 Modernity Chapter 15 The Catholic Absence From and Return to Philosophy, 1700–1850 131 Chapter 16 Newman: God, philosophy, universities 145 Chapter 17 From Aeterni Patris to Fides et Ratio 151 Chapter 18 F ides et Ratio: The Catholic Philosophical Tradition Redefined 165 Chapter 19 Now: universities, philosophy, God 173 Index 181 About the Author 193 (cid:2) Introduction Three convictions led to the writing of this book. The first is that an edu- cated Catholic laity needs to understand a good deal more about Catholic philosophical thought than it now does. The warring partisans on the great issues that engage our culture and politics presuppose, even when they do not recognize it, the truth of some philosophical theses and the falsity of oth- ers. If we are to evaluate their claims, we had better know something about philosophy and, if we are Catholic Christians by faith and commitment, something about Catholic philosophy. A second underlying conviction is that Catholic philosophy is best un- derstood historically, as a continuing conversation through centuries, in which we turn and return to dialogue with the most important voices from our past, in order to carry forward that conversation in our own time. So we only know how to direct our enquiries now, if we have first made our own the philosophical thought of our predecessors. A third conviction is that philosophy is not just a matter of propositions affirmed or denied and of ar- guments advanced and critically evaluated, but of philosophers in particular social and cultural situations interacting with each other in their affirmations and denials, in their argumentative wrangling, so that the social forms and institutionalizations of their interactions are important and none more so than those university settings that have shaped philosophical conversation, both to its benefit and to its detriment. I hope to find readers for this book among undergraduates in their senior year, first-year graduate students, the teachers of such undergraduate and 11 2 (cid:2) Introduction graduate students, and more widely in the educated reading public. It is not a book written for scholars and academic specialists, but of course it invites and will receive their criticisms. I hope that I have made no mistakes of fact, but experience suggests that I should not be too optimistic. There will certainly be quarrels about my principles of selection, about what I have emphasized, and what I have omitted. There will be those who want a larger place for Scotus or Suarez, those who find this book too Thomistic, and those who do not find it Thomistic enough. It is generally plain, I think, which arguments I endorse and which conclusions I reject and on many issues there will inevi- tably be numerous dissenters, Catholic and non-Catholic. Since 2004 I have taught an undergraduate course at Notre Dame with the same title as this book. The idea of transforming that course into a book came from James Langford, for whose exceptional gifts as a publisher I have had reason to be grateful for many years. I thank him for his insights and advice. Not everything in this book has formed part of that course and not everything in that course forms part of this book. But I owe a large debt to five generations of students, over two hundred in number, who, by their questioning participation, helped to educate me, especially by compelling me to confront their questions posed in their terms. Whatever this book’s defects, they have made it significantly better than it would otherwise have been and I am most grateful. Others who have helped to improve it significantly by their critical and constructive comments are my colleagues, Fred Fred- doso, Brad Gregory, Ralph McInerny, David Solomon, and especially John O’Callaghan. I thank them for their generosity. I am also extraordinarily grateful to Claire Shely for her secretarial work in helping to produce this book; to Tracy Westlake, administrative assistant in the Center for Ethics and Culture at Notre Dame; to Randy Yoho, who kept my computer from early retirement; to David Davidson, without whom Flanner Hall would not function; and to all those who clean offices, deliver mail, cook food, and so keep in being the university in which I have had the opportunity to write. Alasdair MacIntyre Mishawaka, Indiana August 2008 GOD, PHILOSOPHY, UNIVERSITIES